Amesbury residents vote to end fluoridation of the city’s water

… The local elections, held in 21 area communities, also delivered voter verdicts on some notable ballot questions.

In Amesbury, residents voted 1,677-1,352 to stop fluoridation of the city’s water supply.

The Board of Health had suspended fluoridation last year due to concerns about the quality of the sodium fluoride being used – large chunks of it were coagulating and clogging the water treatment system.

City officials have said that if they were able to obtain a consistent supply of quality fluoride, they would be able to resume fluoridation, and continue it once the city’s new water treatment plant comes on line after retrofits to the facility, according to health director Jack Morris. But the Board of Health decided voters should choose whether to resume fluoridation, and they opted not to.

“The vote has been taken, and I anticipate the Board of Health will follow the directive of the electorate,’’ Morris said. But he said the board would likely continue a program the city began last year to provide free fluoride dental treatments to children from low-income families.

Amesbury, meanwhile, will now officially refer to itself as a city rather than a town, as a result of a charter change approved by voters Tuesday…